Guest Blog: The Chartered Institute of Fundraising in Northern Ireland

What is the Chartered Institute of Fundraising (CIOF)?

The Chartered Institute of Fundraising is the professional membership body for UK fundraising. We champion our members’ excellence in fundraising and support fundraisers through professional development and education. We connect fundraisers across all sectors and skill sets to share and learn with each other, so that together we can best serve our causes and communities.

The Chartered Institute has a website full of information to support your fundraising and help you become the best fundraiser you can be. If you haven’t visited the Guidance and Resources page before, get it bookmarked in your browser! It’s going to answer a lot of the questions you have in the months and years ahead. 

It’s a national organisation, with a big local focus - but we also operate locally in Northern Ireland.

What does CIOF Northern Ireland do?

I’ve volunteered on the Chartered Institute of Fundraising’s Northern Ireland committee for a number of years now. We’re professional fundraisers, volunteering our time and experience to help build and support the local fundraising community. There’s real excellence across fundraising in Northern Ireland and we’re here to give it the focus it deserves, connecting fundraisers and sharing those skills so we can all support wider society.

We’re passionate about fundraising and bringing the local fundraising community together. We do that by ensuring we get involved in the right discussions to help shape the environment for local fundraisers. We also host networking and training events and we’re working hard to bring back our annual conference and Fundraising Awards post pandemic.

Click the link to find out more about our next event:  

NI Fundraising Awards 2023, in association with Hays

The Chartered Institute of Fundraising’s annual awards makes a welcome return to Belfast Harbour Commissioners Office on 8 June. After a flood of incredible nominations in April and May, judging has now taken place.

Join the local fundraising community to celebrate and recognise the incredible work of local fundraisers, volunteers and businesses who make a huge difference to people living in Northern Ireland.

For tickets, visit https://bit.ly/NIfundraisingawards23

How can people get involved?

We try to do as much as we can, as well as we can, but we’re a small group and we know our limits! We’re currently looking for more brilliant people to join our team.

We’re here for all professional fundraisers in our local sector. So, to make sure we’re getting the right content for members, we try to include a broad mix of voices in our planning. We need people with all types of skills and from all kinds of backgrounds. Our committee volunteers come from both local and national charities, sole fundraisers to department heads and directors, representing a wide range of causes from health to the arts.

We have a wealth of experience in the team, but are fully aware that experience doesn’t count for everything. In our latest round of volunteer recruitment we’re particularly keen to bring in the voice of those new to fundraising. No matter where we are in our careers, we all have something to offer.

I work with a national charity, so I volunteer because I want to feel part of a local community. It puts me outside of my comfort zone sometimes, but in return I learn loads from the amazing people around me and get the chance to connect with lots of fundraisers across the sector, both locally and right across the UK and Ireland. If you’ve ever considered getting involved, I’d recommend it to anyone. There’s no better time than the present, so please visit here or send me a message if you’d like to hear more about joining our local team. 

You can contact Paul at [email protected].